The first foreign-related commercial case applicable to foreign laws
[Abstract] on August 2, according to the relevant provisions of the Korean civil law, Weihai intermediate people’s court ruled that a Korean company should repay a bank loan of US $1049236.90. So far, the first foreign-related commercial case applicable to foreign laws in Weihai has been concluded.
In December 1995, a South Korean company borrowed US $3.82 million from a South Korean bank for investing in enterprises in China. After the maturity, a South Korean company successively paid the loan principal of US $2770763.10, and still owed us $1049236.90. Recently, a bank in South Korea filed a lawsuit to Weihai intermediate people’s court.
After hearing this case, the court held that since the plaintiff and defendant of this case are Korean legal persons, this case is a foreign-related commercial case, which should be tried in accordance with the provisions of foreign-related civil procedure. If the defendant invests in and establishes an enterprise in Weihai, its investment shall be deemed that the defendant has property available for seizure in China. Therefore, Weihai intermediate people’s court, as the people’s court where the property available for seizure is located, has jurisdiction over the case according to law.
At the same time, this case is loan contract dispute. The plaintiff and the defendant did not choose the applicable law to deal with the contract dispute. Because the signing place of the loan contract and the location of the loan bank involved are in South Korea, and the nationality and domicile of the plaintiff and the defendant are both in South Korea, South Korea is the country with the closest business contact with the loan contract involved. Weihai intermediate people’s Court confirmed the application of Korean law as the applicable law for the settlement of disputes in this case.
Through the way that the plaintiff submitted the notarized and certified Korean law, Weihai intermediate people’s court found out the contents of the loan contract in the Korean civil law. Finally, according to the relevant provisions of the Korean civil law, it ruled that a Korean company should repay the loan of a Korean bank of US $1049236.90.
